Seven Days to Live

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What's with animal enthusiasts being the most uniformly loved of American global celebrities? Even we cynics at the Indy can't think of any reason to come out against this sort of thing. Excited befuddled-ness and a Southern accent comprise zookeeper Jack Hanna's particular charm. Also, you know, the animals. "Jungle Jack," who in addition to hosting Jack Hanna's Wild Countdown seems to have a fondness for unnerving TV hosts like David Letterman with whatever horrifically lethal beasts he totes onstage, brings his antics to Colorado State University-Pueblo's Hoag Recital Hall (2200 Bonforte Blvd., Pueblo; colostate-pueblo.edu) at 7 tonight. One more reason it's a thoroughly uncontroversial event? It's free. — Wyatt Miller

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23 Thursday

music

I can't be the only person on the planet who craves pie à la mode every time I hear Norah Jones on the radio. (Right?) The Pavlovian response is entirely Ms. Jones' fault, as anyone who has seen and heard the opening credits to her indie-film-darling debut in Kar Wai Wong's 2007 My Blueberry Nights can attest. So those who plan to join me at Red Rocks Amphitheatre (18300 W. Alameda Pkwy., Morrison, tickets $39.75 to $65, redrocksonline.com) when Jones hits the stage at 7:30 p.m. had best come amply supplied with blueberry crumble and Dreyer's Vanilla. Deal? — Claire Swinford

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24 Friday

music

Though one organizer described the Mountain Music Festival as "the same as it's been for 30 years," let's flesh that out a little bit. Robert Force, "the Elvis of dulcimers," as one organizer called him, will rock Manitou Springs' Soda Springs Park (1016 Manitou Ave., manitouspringsmountainmusicfestival.blogspot.com) with help from Mango fan Django, the Mitguards, the Big Valley String Band and others. Starting at 5 tonight, and running through Sunday, also find vendors, food, crafts and more. You might also look at the free weekend as something of a spiritual exercise; after all, as Force writes on his Facebook page, "Music heals things you didn't even know were broken." — Bryce Crawford

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25 Saturday

music

John Cage once did a performance in my college's student center with dozens of randomly placed speakers creating overlapping electronic soundscapes. In a later interview with the avant-garde composer, I told him how I'd noticed an unplugged jukebox during the performance, and wondered how he'd have felt if someone had plugged it back in and added to the sonic collage. The ever-affable Cage smiled and said that, as long as the person's motives were constructive, he'd have been perfectly fine with that. And while I don't recommend doing anything like that at UCCS' Peak FreQuency's season-opening Sonus Naturae concert, I do think that embracing Cage's open-minded definition of music will add to your appreciation of this environmental sound-works performance created by the university's music faculty. Hear for yourself at Heller Center for the Arts and Humanities (1250 N. Campus Heights, uccs.edu/~peakfreq, $10 suggested donation, students free) at 6:30 p.m., with a pre-concert reception at 6. — Bill Forman

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26 Sunday

family

When I was a kid, I rarely ever rode my bike, opting instead to stay inside and play video games until my muscles atrophied. Today, I attend a liberal arts university and intern for an alternative weekly newspaper. Enough said? Help your children learn from this cautionary tale and avoid my sordid fate. Head down to America the Beautiful Park from 11 to 4 today for the Kids on Bikes Summer Festival and Adventure Duathalon (126 Cimino Drive, $10 festival, $15-$20 duathalon entry includes fest, kidsonbikes.net). There, your kids can participate in a fun run-and-bike race, followed and prefaced by a family-fun festival. — Jeff Koch

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27 Monday

art

Identity plays a big role in local artist Margaret Kasahara's work. Of Japanese descent, Kasahara blends iconography of American and Japanese life in her paintings. Take "Identity: Sewn Together," which features a fork and a pair of chopsticks, or "Coffee, Tea & Me," which links the beverages with a traditional kokeshi doll. It seems Kasahara feels pulled in two directions, a theme that extends to her new solo show, Someone Like You, at the Denver Botanic Gardens (1007 York St., Denver, botanicgardens.org). Someone opened with a reception and artist's talk Wednesday, but it's up daily through Nov. 4. Tickets are free for members and $9 to $12.50 for nonmembers. — Edie Adelstein

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28 Tuesday

art

Elizabeth Johnson, a Colorado State University-Pueblo photography professor, and Tina Freeman, a photographer based in New Orleans, met in Antarctica; basically, it's the perfect one-upper to your so-and-so-and-I-met-at-a-bar story. Johnson and Freeman's photos from that December 2011 expedition have formed Evanescent Beauty, an exhibit dedicated to the world's least habitable landscape. If you can't make the opening reception on Sept. 7 at the CSU-Pueblo Fine Art Gallery (2200 Bonforte Blvd., Pueblo, tinyurl.com/9yqgjyy), you can still take in Antarctica's frosty beauty — and penguins — today through Sept. 28. Admission is free, and the gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. — Sara Horton